Nicolaus Richter de Vroe
TETRA Дb IV; Shibuya Movements; Euforia
Isao Nakumura, Irvine Arditti et al; Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Peter Rundel, Cristóbal Halffter, Mariss Jansons
BR Klassik 900649 57:02 mins
Following their first feature release of music by Nicolaus Richter de Vroe comes this second from the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Born in 1955 in the then GDR and long based in Munich, the composer and violinist deserves wider recognition. These works showcase Richter de Vroe’s brilliance as an orchestral composer: two are substantial and multilayered, while the third (Euforia, conductor Mariss Jansons) forms a brief – yet no less complex – celebratory postlude.
All three were recorded thrillingly live at their respective world premieres. Earliest is Shibuya Movements (conductor Cristóbal Halffter), signalling an important location for the composer in the Tokyo interchange. Yet this is not a portrayal of human activity but a musing on perspective. Exploring quasi-ritualism and silence in a polyphonic sound world, Richter de Vroe weaves together Cageian experimentalism with a post-Boulez, post-Ligeti palette to great effect.
The meeting of traditions new and older, in and out of Europe, is taken further in TETRA Дb IV (conductor Peter Rundel). The title might suggest a straightforward concept – featuring four solo parts for percussion, violin, trombone and voice. But the Russian title means ‘notebook’, hinting at Richter de Vroe’s unorthodox approach – and his fantastical inspiration in a 1931 poem by the absurdist poet Daniil Kharms.
A concerto this is not, as each soloist appears in turn before a final wholesale gathering in what’s been a common cause throughout. Packed with varied, sophisticated sounds and colours, it’s a magical piece, superbly realised.
